Posts Tagged ‘personal’

Since the closing of the Scurrilous tour cycle, it seems that Protest the Hero have reached an important decision: they are through with the middleman – by middleman, I of course mean the record label — and, after finding themselves in financial trouble after producing three top-tier albums, you can hardly blame them. It was for this reason, then, that the band made the executive decision to forego the middleman almost entirely for their fourth album. To mixed reactions, the band announced the fourth album would be crowdfunded. Of course, as we now know, this decision was an extremely smart one. Volition , which was funded through an IndieGogo campaign that accumulated approximately $350,000, proved that the DIY method can be wildly successful. Fast forward two years. Fans are itchin’ for some new tunes. Would it be entirely cliche to go the IndieGogo route once more? Maybe. Would it be as successful? That’s difficult to gauge. One thing is certain, however — Protest are much better off making music on their own terms. Enter Pacific Myth — the latest installment of ingenuity (and music!) from Protest the Hero. Taking the form of a six-song EP delivered track-by-track to subscribers over the course of six months, Protest are certainly, as they put it, “stirring the pot” with this idea. Before we launch into that, let’s break down what’s up for grabs: The plan is for the band to release six new songs on the 15th day of each month for the next six months. The subscription service is facilitated by BandCamp , and promises automatic delivery of the songs each month once the membership is purchased. For Pacific Myth , Protest have opted for a two-tier system. The first tier is $12, and the second $25. Just looking for tunes? $12 is it, my friend. That may sound to be a little on the steeper side for a six song EP, but every month you’ll receive both the original and instrumental version, as well as a hi-res download of each tracks’ unique cover art. So what will tier two, which totals in at $25, get ya? All of the above, plus you’ll get a documentary documenting the making of Volition. Sectioned into six 20-minute segments, the documentary will also come in monthly installments. The band also hints perks to come — available only to subscribers. Nothing solid has surfaced yet regarding the “when” and “how”s, but their website drops a few hints in terms of what they have in mind, including but not limited to: “limited edition screen prints, Pacific Myth related clothing, and even concerts / listening parties.” When you really think about it, it works out to between $2-$4 roughly per month – not bad at all! But is that besides the point? There have been plenty of stories in the past decade about new music purchasing models that were supposed to revolutionize how fans could access music and how bands could capitalize on it, many of which disappeared into the void of space and time due to their ultimate impracticality on either small or larger scales. Does this new kind of Bandcamp subscription model separate itself from the pack in that sense, or will it fall prey to many of the same trappings? We asked three of our staff writers, Elizabeth Wood, Spencer Snitil, and Scott Murphy for their thoughts on this whole concept, what they think it means for the band, the fans, and the independent and underground metal scene as a whole. POINT: Protest the Hero are releasing music in the most efficient way and are leading the charge to cut the financial cord between band and label. Spencer Snitil: I believe this is a great move for the band and the industry in two ways. Firstly, it marks a shift in the way the band releases their music. The band have stated that this is a sustainable way for them to work, as it cuts down studio time and enables them to get the music out super quick, as opposed to spending a year writing and recording all the material, and then waiting for it to come out. In the video update, the band said they were normally sick of the music by the time it came out, and this seems true for almost any recording band. I can imagine how it must feel to hear the same songs over and over again for weeks, and even months, on end. The band has also stated that if this goes well, they may just continue to release music in this way, and that it can possibly change their future and whether or not they ever release a “full album” again with all the music coming out at once. Secondly, this sets another precedent. Did anyone else notice the influx of Indiegogo campaigns for bands after Protest’s super successful attempt? The band was successful, and other bands sought to capitalize off of this, and with the band adopting this new method, it’s likely that we see others attempt to do the same, and will all likely have varying degrees of success with it. Will we see other bands launching subscription services like Protest? It’s entirely likely, especially given more and more bands are moving to the DIY side of the fence and recording their own music themselves. It also makes it easier if you’re a smaller band. It’s a lot less expensive to hit the studio for a couple of days here and there as opposed to a couple of weeks, and it’s even better if you produce yourself. It marks what could become the new paradigm in the independent music industry. In the future, will there be a platform for all new bands to do something like this? Will there be bands of larger nature that do something similar? Only time will tell, but for now I think what they’re doing is cool, and if they’re into it and see it working long term, then by all means they should go for it. COUNTERPOINT: This model is less practical and sustainable than the band and advocates think. Scott Murphy: I was not remotely surprised by all of the buzz generated by the announcement of Pacific Myth ; all of the Protest the Hero fans that I know have avid enthusiasm for the band’s work that far surpasses casual listening. And I get it: the chance to hear new music from any one of my personal favorite bands would cause me a great deal of excitement as well. But while this post is in no way intended to belittle PTH’s ambitions and their fans’ feelings about Pacific Myth , reading into the streaming services’ details — particularly regarding Tier 1 — has made me hesitant to join the chorus of praise. Tier 1’s perks are not worth $12. Granted, I should begin by admitting that I am an avid supporter of physical music, often times to the detriment of my wallet (I type this as I am spinning an original pressing of Swan ‘s Holy Money on vinyl). Even so, $12 seems too costly for what is provided in Tier 1’s subscription. Taking the $1 standard value of digital singles on Bandcamp and many other digital music platforms, the six singles in Pacific Myth ’s series should ultimately cost $6, not $12. PTH addressed this by pointing out that an instrumental version of each track accompanies each single, which technically fleshes the price out to $12. But there should be a great deal of stress placed on the “technically” in the band’s defense; after all, these are instrumental versions of existing songs, not additional instrumental songs themselves. It also seems strange that PTH would make the removal of Rody Walker’s vocals – arguably one of the most compelling features of their music – a selling point for these six additional tracks. Touting each track’s high-resolution artwork, lyrics and liner notes is also strange considering how innate this is for many digital and physical avenues of purchasing music, including albums that contain these things while also bearing a lower price tag. Admittedly, the final set of perks – including full music scores, video playthroughs, music videos, subscriber-only merch and “lots of other treats” – may be justifiable of the $12 subscription for some fans. However, this last piece brings me to my next issue with the service… Pacific Myth mimics Tidal in its exclusionary tactics. In anticipating the argument that “true fans” of the band should be willing to support them (something that I agree with as a general principle), let me point out that PTH uploaded a full stream of their latest album Volition prior to its reelase (via Metal Injection ): I make this point to help illustrate the fact that pre (and post) release streaming is a prevalent part of modern music consumption, and for good reason. This tool is not a product of our “entitlement culture,” but a sign of progress and empowerment of music consumers. I challenge anyone to make a convincing argument that the ability to sample music before purchasing is not an improvement from the ghosts of record stores past, with their blind buys based solely upon cover art, recommendations from friends & fan-zines and possibly – depending on the genre – singles played on MTV or the radio. While it may seem like heresy to treat music like a product…it is. I will never have the enough money to completely fulfill my album wish list; every trip to a record store involves me putting records back in the crates due to insufficient funds, not because of my lack of desire to support the artists. Streaming services like Bandcamp and Spotify allow me to legally sample the abundance of music that interests me so that I can determine which albums worth buying. By PTH making a subscription necessary to even listen to the Pacific Myth ’s six tracks, they are removing the democratization of sound that has become a crucial cultural norm. This is not a matter of weeding out the fans who want to free ride via streaming; as I alluded and link to above, PTH clearly realizes that the purpose of legal streaming stretches far beyond this. Well, maybe not entirely, as their comment that “unlike some other streaming platforms, we still believe that our music has value” misrepresents a key detail of modern streaming. Spotify (and other streaming services) are not truly as evil as some people (*cough* labels *cough*) would like you to believe. While I implore you to read the entirety of David Von Wiegandt’s excellent article detailing the legal nuances required of streaming services ( here ), I will attempt to summarize it as best as I can here: Legally speaking, streaming differs from digital downloads in that it constitutes a “performance” of a song, with further implications arising from the listener’s relation to that performance. Pandora, for example, is exempt from these complications because it offers an involuntary, randomized mode of access. But since Spotify’s users may access music voluntarily, the need for multiple, complex layers of copyright permissions are triggered, to the detriment of both Spotify and artists. Spotify had to pay heavy royalty fees when negotiating with the four major American record labels (to the tune of $300 million), and because of the power held by these labels in relation to their artists, artists receive roughly 1/10 th of a cent per stream instead of the 45% of total royalties that they would be entitled to if the Copyright Act were altered in a just manner. Stepping away from the legal jargon, the TL;DR point is this: Spotify has become an easy target of misguided anger from artists, causing artists to toughen up and send strongly worded Tweets which Spotify then responds to in a PR friendly tone, all while label executives use revenue profits as cum-rags. This is not to say that Spotify and other streaming services bear no responsibility to stand up for artists; they should, even if they are profit-driven businesses. But the efforts made to fix this problem by services like Tidal have been bogged down by a myriad of issues, with Pacific Myth sharing one of Tidal’s key failings/misunderstandings… “Exclusive” content does not exist on the internet. When one of my friends — who I knew had not subscribed to Pacific Myth — began commenting on the services first single “Ragged Tooth,” I quickly pulled up YouTube and had my suspicions confirmed. Two rips of the track had already been uploaded to YouTube, and while those tracks have since been taken down at the time of this post, the point made in this section’s header still remains. Once something has been posted online, there is absolutely nothing stopping someone from illegally redistributing it across numerous channels. This is no way an endorsement of these practices, and I do not believe whatsoever that the answer to my criticisms is for fans to unofficially stream or download Pacific Myth ‘s tracks. But at the same time, this is an unavoidable fact of the internet, and as long as bands continue uploading songs via subscription or for regular download, someone somewhere is going to create unofficial channels of access to them. I still hope that Pacific Myth works for PTH and their fans. My feelings towards subscription only services have not been changed by Pacific Myth ; they are restrictive and ineffective sources of music consumption that curb the democratization of music and are often more expensive than legal alternatives. However, despite the numerous reservations which I have covered above, I have no doubt that Pacific Myth was conceived by PTH with the best intentions in mind, and I genuinely hope that their fans who subscribe to the service enjoy the new tracks and continue supporting the band in whatever way(s) work best for their budgets. COUNTERPOINT 2: Protest the Hero should be commended for wanting to cut out the middleman, but this still might not be direct and immediate enough for some fans. Elizabeth Wood: I’ll admit it took a little bit of stewing to reach a verdict on how I feel about my favourite band utilizing a subscription system for their latest release. Typically, any announcement from Protest the Hero, no matter how minute, results in an influx of text messages and social media activity on my end, because I’m sort-of — uh, we’ll go with “outwardly overzealous” — about these dudes. I’ve found myself a nice little niche in which I’ve experienced a great sense of community, and for me, that’s a major selling point. I spent the later part of my night on stand-by for the big announcement, and when it finally happened, the inevitable exploding of phones occurred. From gushing with fellow super fans, to cocking my head in confusion at the nay-sayers voicing their disdain of the system in my inbox, to my own disbelief that I was actually hearing new Protest tunes, there was a lot to take in. Looking back, here are my thoughts: On one hand, I was a little disappointed. Yes, I was really feeling the instant gratification of getting to hear a song RIGHT FRIGGIN’ NOW, but I was also less than thrilled at the idea of having to wait six months to hear the release in its entirety (I’m a pretty serious front-to-back listener). I’m sure I’ll come to appreciate the suspense each month, but it will certainly take a little getting used to! Beyond my own impatience, though, I couldn’t help but feel a certain sense of divisiveness about it when I saw some peers missing out on the hype for no reason other than they couldn’t afford the twelve dollars at the time. It’s come to be expected that new music is typically available for at least previewing online, and there’s a certain element of inclusiveness in that that is eliminated by the use of a subscription service. Protest is a band that appeals primarily to young adults. Sometimes, spending money on music simply isn’t an option, especially for those who are just starting out on their own. Admittedly, it was a little bit disappointing to see fans every bit as enthusiastic missing out on the moment due to their financial situation. Of course, that’s the nature of the beast. I’m sure if I thought about it too much I’d feel for those unable to attend shows they’re itchin’ to go to due to lack of cash, as well. Same deal with ultra-rare one-night-only limited-run merch. Sometimes, it’s just the wrong ledger balance at the wrong time, and that’s life. The good news is that Pacific Myth will still be available for those willing to save up! On the other hand, I was equally disappointed to see that the video had been uploaded to YouTube (though it has since been removed, as far as I can tell), as I felt it undermined the entire purpose of the subscription service, and so soon after its announcement. I chalk my conflicting opinions up to the current state of the industry. We have come to expect that new music will be instantly available to us the moment it makes its debut, and at no cost to us, the listener. While I wouldn’t necessarily say that comes from a place of entitlement, it certainly doesn’t help the artist make a living, especially when you factor in the many middlemen that play a role in the industry. What Protest are doing is removing the middleman in order to simplify the relationship between the listener and the musician. “Hey, you like us so much that you’ll throw us a few bucks and we’ll throw you a few tracks? Let’s do business.” By creating a subscription system, this band is creating a direct money/service market that allows interested parties to fork over a little dough in exchange for the opportunity to follow a band through an endeavour. It’s no more simple or complicated than that. While I wouldn’t say it’s revolutionary, I think it’s very admirable, especially in an industry in desperate need of reform. -EW, SS, & SM

Warner Bros. Choosing a 10 Best Songs list for Linkin Park was no easy task as some very solid and well-known tracks just barely missed our cut. But one thing is for sure, the ever-evolving six-piece of Chester Bennington , Mike Shinoda , Brad Delson, Joe Hahn, Dave “Phoenix” Farrell and Rob Bourdon have always kept things interesting with a hybrid mix of rock, metal, rap and electronic music. So, as we present this Top 10 countdown of Linkin Park songs, keep in mind that we tried so hard, but in the end we hope we chose the songs that really mattered. Check out our list of the 10 Best Linkin Park Songs below: 10 ‘Breaking the Habit’ From: ‘Meteora’ (2003) ? ? What started off as Mike Shinoda’s epic instrumental track called ‘Drawing’ eventually turned into a more fleshed-out hit single called ‘Breaking the Habit.’ Though it was the final song released off their ‘Meteora’ album, it’s turned into one of their more enduring tracks, perhaps due to the personal nature of the lyrics. Chester Bennington belts, ” I don’t know how I got this way / I know it’s not alright / So I’m breaking the habit ” with every ounce of emotion. Listen to ‘Breaking the Habit’ ? ? 9 ‘Waiting for the End’ From: ‘A Thousand Suns’ (2010) ? ? ‘Waiting for the End’ just has that bouncy groove that both differentiates itself and makes it a natural fit as one of Linkin Park’s 10 best songs. Bennington described the track as having a “summertime vibe,” and the combination of Rob Bourdon’s drums and Joe Hahn’s samples really give the track that special sound. Add in Shinoda’s rasta-like rapping with Bennington’s more melodic delivery and you’ve got the makings of something special. Listen to ‘Waiting for the End’ ? ? 8 ‘Crawling’ From: ‘Hybrid Theory’ (2000) ? ? ‘Crawling’ will always hold a special place for Linkin Park as it gave them their first Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance. Bennington delivers one of his fiercest screams to date, but admits it’s one of the more difficult songs to perform. He told Spin , “[It’s] about feeling like I had no control over myself in terms of drugs and alcohol … This is just who I am, this is what I write about, what I do, and most of my work has been a reflection of what I’ve been going through in one way or another.” Listen to ‘Crawling’ ? ? 7 ‘Bleed It Out’ From: ‘Minutes to Midnight’ (2007) ? ? With ‘Bleed It Out,’ Shinoda got a chance to come to the forefront though the ‘Minutes to Midnight’ album as a whole featured less of his rap style that its predecessors. The clap-along rocker was a meta track about the perfection they put into their recording process, with Shinoda spelling out their drive in the opening line: ” Here we go for the hundredth time / hand grenade pins in every line / Throw ’em up and let something shine / Going out of my f—ing mind .” Thankfully they did bleed it out and dig a little deeper, cause this song is no throw away. Listen to ‘Bleed It Out’ ? ? 6 ‘Lying From You’ From: ‘Meteora’ (2003) ? ? ‘Lying From You’ is the perfect example of what the band did best early in their career and is a must for the 10 Best Linkin Park Songs list. It starts with a Joe Hahn viola-infused keyboard sample, then gives way to some hard-hitting Bourdon drumming, gritty guitar and bass work from Brad Delson and Phoenix Farrell and is offset with some of Shinoda’s best rhymes and Bennington’s supreme screams. It’s no wonder the track has become a live favorite over the years. Listen to ‘Lying From You’ ? ? 5 ‘Given Up’ From: ‘Minutes to Midnight’ (2007) ? ? Linkin Park delivered one of their hardest songs to date with ‘Given Up’ off the ‘Minutes to Midnight’ album. Guitarist Brad Delson shines on this track, not only for the infectious guitar lick that drives the song, but also for the keys jingling at the start of the cut. It’s also notable for Bennington’s excessive 17-second scream before the final chorus that drives home the alienation laid out in the lyrics. Listen to ‘Given Up’ ? ? 4 ‘Faint’ From: ‘Meteora’ (2003) ? ? LInkin Park’s early sampling along with a sped up guitar track from Delson and some dexterous drumming from Bourdon make ‘Faint’ one of the band’s more distinguishable songs. Though the title is never uttered in the track, the song itself is about making sure that you’re never so faint that your opinion isn’t heard. As Bennington belts, ” I can’t feel the way I did before / Don’t turn your back on me / I won’t be ignored .” Listen to ‘Faint’ ? ? 3 ‘One Step Closer’ From: ‘Hybrid Theory’ ? ? Need to blow off some steam? ‘One Step Closer’ is the track for you. Linkin Park’s ode to frustration ended up being the song that broke them to a mass audience. As a calling card, you could do a lot worse that Bennington’s in-your-face declaration, “Shut up when I’m talking to you.” As for the question of who was about to make Bennington break, the vocalist revealed in a 2011 with Kerrang that some of the lyrics were inspired by producer Don Gilmore who had repeatedly asked the band to rework the song. Listen to ‘One Step Closer’ ? ? 2 ‘Numb’ From: ‘Meteora’ (2003) ? ? ‘Numb’ is definitely one of Linkin Park’s more powerful songs, speaking heavily about trying to live up to someone else’s expectations. Bennington cuts right to the heart of the matter, singing, ” Don’t know what you’re expecting of me / Put under the pressure of walking in your shoes / Every step that I take is another mistake to you .” Blending equal parts melody and aggression, ‘Numb’ has become one of the band’s most beloved tracks. Listen to ‘Numb’ ? ? 1 ‘In the End’ From: ‘Hybrid Theory’ (2000) ? ? Though ‘One Step Closer’ was the song that broke Linkin Park, ‘In the End’ was the track that made sure that fans were around to stay. The song’s perfect blend of melancholy melody and angst-driven aggression showed the range of what the band could do. While Bennington may say in the track that he tried so hard, but in the end nothing really mattered, Linkin Park fans might disagree. The craftsmanship put on this cut made it a solid choice for the top of the 10 Best Linkin Park Songs list. Listen to ‘In the End’ ? ? What Are Linkin Park’s Best Songs? We’re well aware there are still a lot of great Linkin Park songs that didn’t make the cut and here’s your chance to make your argument to replace one on our list with another. Should chart-toppers like ‘Somewhere I Belong,’ ‘What I’ve Done,’ ‘The Catalyst’ or ‘Burn It Down’ be there? How about favorites like ‘Papercut,’ ‘Leave Out All the Rest,’ ‘Shadow of the Day’ or ‘Lost in the Echo’? Let us know your thoughts on this list in the comments section below.

Photos: Lava Records, Universal Republic / Facebook: HIM Black Veil Brides and their BVB Army defeated reigning champs Halestorm, but will they be able to do it again against today’s challengers. Finnish love metallers HIM heat things up with their latest single ‘Strange World’ off of their compilation disc ‘XX-Two Decades of Love Metal.’ The song itself was originally released by Kevin Grivois, known by the artist name Ké, in the ’90s. It’s said to be one of the personal favorites of HIM frontman Ville Valo. The band has dates for scheduled for some European festivals; go here to see dates. So will Black Veil Brides continue to march on with their winning track ‘In the End’ or will HIM take a victory with ‘Strange World’? Listen to both singles and vote for your favorite in the poll below! (This Cage Match will run until Friday, Jan. 18, at 8AM ET. Fans can vote once per hour! So come back and vote often to make sure your favorite song wins!) Black Veil Brides, ‘In The End’ HIM, ‘Strange World’ Sorry, you need to have javascript running to see this poll. Email Me When Cage Match Winners Are Announced Enter your email address below to receive the Loudwire newsletter, which will include notification of the daily winner of the Cage Match, as well as our top stories of the day. Email Rules of Cage Match: Fans can vote once per hour for their favorite song. If a song remains the reigning champ for five straight cage matches, it is retired to the Loudwire Cage Match Hall of Fame. With so many great songs out there, we have to give other bands a chance!

Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine may be one of the most controversial musicians on the planet in terms of his personal beliefs and public statements, but even his most colossal naysayers will surely find themselves praising Mustaine for this most recent announcement. Mustaine has revealed that he will fund a soup kitchen in Haiti, which will feed up to 8,000 meals a day to those in need. Mustaine announced news of his soup kitchen and attached Christian ministry, ‘Outside the Bowl,’ late last night (Jan. 13) via Megadeth’s Facebook page. Mustaine writes: Droogies, I just wanted to take this time on a peaceful Sunday to stop and thank you for your tremendous support. I know not everyone here is a fan, but that’s ok too; this message will be waiting for you when you change your opinion of me/us. Until then, I want to sincerely thank those of you for something you have no idea that you’ve done, but that is really a righteous and unbelievable thing to do. You see, all faults aside, I really am trying to live my life differently today, and part of that was in finding something to believe in. One of the things that has happened since I started this transformation is getting involved with helping widows and orphans, and helping the homeless. Now, here’s what you’ve done… I was approached with an opportunity, and thanks to your unwavering support, my family and I have been able to fund a soup kitchen in Haiti with a ministry called, “Outside The Bowl,” and you will be proud to know that when it is started (which will be very soon), we will be feeding up to 8,000 meals a day to the less fortunate. I am so very grateful, and I love you all so very much (yes, even you haters), because even when I am being vilified and having my character assassinated, I can find comfort knowing up to 8,000 meals will be served each day, along with a healthy serving of love and some spiritual nourishment as well. Again, I cannot thank you enough. Love and bruises, Dave Mustaine Megadeth are currently in the studio recording their yet-untitled 14th full-length album. The band has been releasing short clips of their recording sessions via YouTube, which you can watch in the videos below. Megadeth at Vic’s Garage – Studio Update No. 2 Megadeth at Vic’s Garage – Studio Update No. 3 [button href=”http://loudwire.com/megadeth-dave-mustaine-rants-on-chemtrails-blasts-cnn/” title=”Dave Mustaine Rants on Chemtrails, Blasts CNN” align=”center”]

Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Marilyn Manson 's best songs document a career that is unlike any other that came before him. Mixing a rock 'n' roll mentality with electronic elements and profound lyrics narrating the progression of society in real time, Manson has developed a polarizing identity as both a beloved hero and a reviled villain. Although Manson has experienced major highs and lows throughout his many years in the public eye, he now finds himself rejuvenated and nominated for a 2013 Grammy Award. To celebrate the career of the Antichrist Superstar, we've put together our list of the 10 Best Marilyn Manson Songs: ? 10 'Astonishing Panorama of the Endtimes' From: 'Celebrity Deathmatch Soundtrack' (1999) ? ? The full-speed-ahead rock track 'Astonishing Panorama of the Endtimes' was never actually included within any Marilyn Manson album. In fact, this track was exclusively released for the official soundtrack of the legendary claymation MTV series 'Celebrity Deathmatch.' Opening up the soundtrack, the song contains some sweet muddy shredding along with the captivating line, “Kill your god and kill your TV.” Listen to 'Astonishing Panorama of the Endtimes' ? ? 9 'The Nobodies' From: 'Holy Wood' (2000) ? ? After the Columbine school shooting of 1999, Marilyn Manson was one of many scapegoats targeted by a national media scrambling to make sense of the tragedy. After refusing to publicly speak of the incident as a protest against media sensationalism, Manson released 'The Nobodies' as the third single from his 2000 album, 'Holy Wood.' The song characterizes the Columbine shooters' rise from nobodies to household names, while taking a shot at the media with the line, “You should have seen the ratings that day.” Listen to 'The Nobodies' ? ? 8 'The Dope Show' From: 'Mechanical Animals' (1998) ? ? During the height of Manson's shocking persona, the sonic artist released 'The Dope Show' as the lead single for his 1998 album, 'Mechanical Animals.' The lurching track trudges through the subjects of American materialism, consumerism and the vast emptiness found within corporate control over creativity. In the legendary video for 'The Dope Show,' Manson appears as a sexless, soulless, manufactured product rather than a human being. Listen to 'The Dope Show' ? ? 7 'No Reflection' From: 'Born Villain' (2012) ? ? After going through a self-confessed low point in his career, Marilyn Manson chose to reevaluate his identity as an artist by surrounding himself with nothingness so he'd be forced to create. The result was Manson's best album in over a decade, 'Born Villain.' The album's lead single, 'No Reflection,' is brilliantly claustrophobic and one of Manson's strongest tracks to date. The song has even been nominated for a 2013 Grammy Award. Listen to 'No Reflection' ? ? 6 'The Fight Song' From: 'Holy Wood' (2000) ? ? Although many of Marilyn Manson's greatest works pull the listener into an eerie and uncomfortable, yet beautiful realm ('Speed of Pain' / 'The Last Day on Earth'), the musician has created some true anthems throughout his career. 'The Fight Song' is easily one of Manson's most powerful anthems, showcasing a contagious power along with compelling lyrics such as, “I'm not a slave to a god that doesn't exist / And I'm not a slave to a world that doesn't give a s–t.” Listen to 'The Fight Song' ? ? 5 'Tourniquet' From: 'Antichrist Superstar' (1996) ? ? From the 'Antichrist Superstar' album, 'Tourniquet' begins with the reversed message, “This is my most vulnerable moment.” Manson takes on the metaphorical role of a tourniquet, built on it's physically constricting yet life-saving qualities. Is Manson's message masochistic in nature? Do his lyrics address a relationship with substance abuse? Perhaps both … Perhaps neither. Either way, music is all about personal interpretation, and Manson gives his followers a lot to sink their teeth into with 'Tourniquet.' Listen to 'Tourniquet' ? ? 4 'Disposable Teens' From: 'Holy Wood' (2000) ? ? With a simple but powerful guitar lead introducing the essential track, 'Disposable Teens' was the first single released by Manson in the new millennium. Having penned a multitude of songs inspired by the teenage years, 'Disposable Teens' is one of Manson's greatest lyrical accomplishments, evidenced by lines such as, “And I'm a black rainbow / And I'm an ape of god / I've got a face that's made for violence upon / And I'm a teen distortion / Survived abortion / A rebel from the waist down.” Listen to 'Disposable Teens' ? ? 3 'Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)' From: 'Smells Like Children' (1995) ? ? Few artists can take another band's signature track and create a brilliant cover with its own distinct identity. Eurythmics released 'Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)' in 1983, selling more than one million copies of the single in the United States alone. Although the original song is widely known as a masterpiece, Marilyn Manson abducted the synth standard in 1995, stripping apart its pop dermis and filling the void with twisted darkness. Listen to 'Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)' ? ? 2 'Coma White' From: 'Mechanical Animals' (1998) ? ? There are few songs that dedicated Mansonites hold closer to their warm bodies than 'Coma White.' In the mind of Marilyn Manson, the color white represents a sense of “numbness” felt by the musician from both drug use and public scrutiny. The forefront version of 'Coma White' is found at the end of 'Mechanical Animals,' but there also exists a breathtaking acoustic version of the song, which is essential listening for both hardcore fans and those unfamiliar with Manson's music. Listen to 'Coma White' ? ? 1 'The Beautiful People' From: 'Antichrist Superstar' (1996) ? ? The anthem of all Manson anthems, 'The Beautiful People,' comes in at No. 1 on our list. With a heavy drum presence, sinister chants and an unforgettable guitar line mixed in with Manson's hushed whisper of the song's reprise, 'The Beautiful People' challenges societal materialism, which Manson labels as “the culture of beauty.” Instead of painstakingly weeding out all those he sings against, Manson takes a much simpler route heard in the lyrics, “There's no time to discriminate / Hate every motherf—er that's in your way.” Listen to 'The Beautiful People' ? ? What's Your Favorite Marilyn Manson Song? Which of our 10 Marilyn Manson song picks is your favorite? If your personal favorite didn't make our list, post it in the comments section below! ?

Liz Ramanand, Loudwire No matter where your personal musical taste falls, you’ve got to give some serious respect to Machine Head frontman Robb Flynn . Soon after an emergency surgery to take care of two hernias in the area of his giggleberries, Flynn was hit in the family jewels by a New York City cab. After a four-hour hospital stay, Flynn rushed to the Best Buy Theater to perform that night’s set with his band, leading to an onstage diss in the direction of All That Remains for apparently refusing to switch set times despite Flynn’s debacle. Machine Head have experienced an odd month during the tail-end of 2012. Along with the metal act receiving a ban from the Orlando, Fla. House of Blues by The Walt Disney Company, Machine Head have run into some bad luck with Flynn’s hernia issues. The howling frontman toughed it out and returned to his band’s tour with Dethklok , All That Remains and the Black Dahlia Murder a few weeks after his surgery, and was almost taken out again by the NYC cab in a hit-and-run. However, there seems to be yet another issue in the life of Flynn, this one situated between himself and the members of All That Remains, as evidenced by a rant directed toward the New York City audience. Flynn addressed the crowd: About two days ago we played and the All That Remains guys asked us to flip-flop with them because their singer got stuck in traffic. And you know, we’ve been flip-flopping this whole tour so we were like, “Yeah, man, you know what? It’s no big deal, we’ll flip flop.” Because that’s what you do, you look out for your brothers, right? And today, I got hit by a cab, right where I had surgery four weeks ago, in my nuts. I got clipped in a hit and run. I spent the last four hours in the f—ing hospital and unfortunately I had to f—in’ rush back here — and actually, it is fortunate, because I’m very happy to be standing on this stage — but I had to fucking rush back here because nobody could f—ing switch, man, nobody could flip-flop, because that’s just how it is, I guess. That’s how it is when you look out for your brothers some of the time. This tour, I’ll tell you what, this tour has been so f—ing insane for us, man, we’ve had so many crazy things, and even things that affected you people: Hurricane Sandy. We’ve had surgeries, we got banned by f—ing Disney, all this f—ing bulls–t and you know what? Nothing is gonna f—ing stop us, nothing is gonna f—ing stop us, because we live to do this. We’re so f—ing honored, we’re so f—ing proud to be able to do this for you. According to one of our reporters, who was covering the New York City concert, All That Remains singer Phil Labonte addressed the issue onstage, claiming that he would have agreed to swap sets if he had been informed of Robb Flynn’s situation. Was Flynn in the right to air his frustrations? Check out video footage of Robb Flynn’s speech below and let us know what you think in the comments section. Machine Head’s Robb Flynn Slams All That Remains Onstage Stay tuned for Loudwire’s full recap + photo gallery of the show.

Liz Ramanand, Loudwire The Black Veil Brides army continues to march strong, especially with the band’s third studio album, ‘Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones,’ due out on Jan. 8. Loudwire had the opportunity to catch up with Black Veil Brides frontman Andy Biersack after her surprised 20 fans with his presence at a listening party in New York City. Biersack talked in-depth about ‘Wretched and Divine’ and how circumstances in his personal life helped with the creation of the new album. ‘Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones’ is a very epic sounding album name. What does the title mean to you personally? Growing up, I wasn’t like the kid in ‘Breakfast Club,’ but I was like the weirdo like “Don’t let your kids around that guy” – I had like a James Dean complex when I was a kid and I wanted to be this rebel person but it wasn’t because I wanted to rebel against things it was just that my inclinations were more towards rock ‘n’ roll, leather jackets and that kind of stuff. I wasn’t a kid who got into trouble, I didn’t get into drugs as a kid but just the way that I looked and my interests made me into this social pariah. So at a young age I was already fascinated by the social dichotomy of if someone looks a certain way or someone has certain interests they can be labeled as a bad person without any actual knowledge of who they are. The older I got, I started to realize more it’s not necessarily that any of us are inherently bad or good, you just kind of carve your own way and you are your experiences and your surroundings and what you grow up in. I think on any given day somebody could help out a homeless person and cuss out somebody that cut them off in traffic and I think that everybody has that inside them, it’s just how you live that balance – so I think everbody is ‘Wretched and Divine.’ Our band also, we’re a very polarizing band in opinion – people either tend to love us or hate us, there’s not really anything in between. We like to think of ourselves and the people that support us as people on the fringe, we don’t care to be part of one group or another. We kind of exist on our own bubble so to speak and with that I think that may be where the title came from. Can you talk about the brand new single ‘In The End’ musically and lyrically? The song probably came about two or three weeks after my grandfather died. I was very close with my grandparents and through the course of writing the song, I started to think more and more about – just from my personal perspective because everyone in the band has their own feelings on when songs are written. But when I was sitting outside writing lyrics to it, I was feeling — I’m not a religious person but I grew up in a religious family. I went to the funeral for my grandfather, a person that I love very much and everyone is speaking about how he went to heaven and how he’s in heaven. I always fight with that because I would love nothing more to believe that my grandfather is in the clouds playing Xbox 460 or whatever awesome stuff they have up in heaven but I can’t. I remember sitting around in my grandmother’s house afterwards and everbody’s doing what you do after — you all go back somewhere and you talk about the great stories of the person that died and that came to me very clearly: Whether you believe or don’t believe in an actual physical afterlife, you cant deny that there is a certain element of an afterlife in the legacy that someone leaves. A bunch of people sitting around a room talking about how wonderful this person was and how positively they affected their lives is always going to, in a sense, be heaven — heaven on earth. I think heaven and afterlife is for the living, it’s for the people that continue on and remember that person and if you’ve done something that is substantial in your life then you can leave a legacy and do something positive. It obviously applies to the storyline and this battle and being at the end of it and not having won or loss — just knowing that you did something for what you thought was right. Artists such as Bert McCracken from the Used and William Control are on the album. What did these other musicians bring to the table? With this we were doing something so different than anything we’ve done before, it opened itself up to inviting friends and different people in. In the past we never really had guest vocalists but this felt like it was bigger than just the five of us – it’s almost like doing a play and you only cast you and your friends, you have to have stuff that exists outside of the base where the story was written. If anything else, it was bringing people in that had different perspectives and different sounds so that we could play more with the sonic level of the record and have different sounding things. Can you talk about the F.E.A.R spoken word parts of the album and the idea behind those sections of the disc? I’ve sort of just like the whole Orwellian, dystopian future – I like the idea that it doesn’t seem to crazy or far off that there could be someone who is this omnipotent, omniscient power that tells you what to do. I think that people always make the metaphor pretty readily with television or media brainwashing and the people with the tinfoil on their heads think that everything’s brainwashing them. So, if you were to have a situation where it’s an all sweeping political, religious, psychological just this entity that exists on every level to where you get your food, you get your God and you get your health from this one entity and they kind of control everything — that just always interested me. I like the idea of having the narrative told through the perspective of the bad guy more than anything else. You rarely ever hear something narrated through the villain’s perspective and it was fun. If nothing else, this record boils down to stuff that I just thought was fun and cool and what we could have fun with as a whole. Where did the idea of the Black Veil Brides film ‘Legion of the Black’ come from? Again just fun, honestly it was as simple as just the childishness of “We should do a movie” and then the reality of, “How do you do that and how do you get the financing for that?” We were very fortunate to have great friends Patrick Fogerty and Richard Villa, who have worked with us from day one. Richard does our artwork and Patrick has directed every video I have done since I was 17 years old and so they have a lot of friends and were able to pull a lot of favors and we were able to agree with the label on a budget. So instead of doing these promotional videos, we decided that we would do a cohesive film to compliment the album because it is this larger than life kind of thing. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/black-veil-brides-unleash-video-for-in-the-end/” title=”Check Out Black Veil Brides’ Video for ‘In The End'” align=”center”]